Mercedes – the Artist's Car 1972

Curator: Here we have John Bratby’s "Mercedes – the Artist's Car," painted in 1972, an oil painting with very expressive impasto brushwork. What’s your first take? Editor: My first thought is "claustrophobia." The car feels almost trapped, hemmed in by those windows and…is that a barred vent behind it? The whole scene is pressing in, like a beautiful beast held captive. Curator: Absolutely. Bratby's work often dances on that edge, doesn't it? This painting pulses with tension, the vibrant energy struggling against containment. The Mercedes, a status symbol, is reduced to an object within this rather bleak cityscape. Think of the car as a modern-day icon; it embodies aspiration, success. By painting it with this frenetic energy, almost violently, Bratby questions those very ideals. Editor: It’s a fantastic push and pull! And the car itself… It’s not idealized at all. Bratby captures every dent, every glint of light bouncing off the aging metal, that instantly adds to the honesty that you describe. Look at how the Mercedes emblem is represented! It's clearly recognizable, but slightly deformed and tilting to the left! It evokes something akin to the German national consciousness and pride crashing with harsh and brutalist realities of the modern age. Curator: He definitely resists glorifying it. Instead, there is this sense of entropy and everything appears slightly out of kilter; his cityscapes almost feel on the verge of crumbling. Remember, Bratby came to prominence as one of the kitchen sink realists, those post-war British artists depicting the everyday, and sometimes ugly, realities of ordinary life. Even when he turns his gaze to something seemingly glamorous, like a Mercedes, he infuses it with that raw, unflinching vision. Editor: Absolutely. The car in a somewhat dilapidated city setting, rendered with such raw brushstrokes...It's a potent cocktail of yearning and disillusionment. I can feel the shift from the promise of postwar consumerism into the complexities of modern life. The way the paint is applied, so thickly, seems to amplify this restless feeling, creating a very modern angst. Curator: Yes, indeed. He takes the supposed solidity and status of the car and, by translating it through his expressive, almost chaotic brushwork, reveals a deeper emotional landscape. The question he’s probing at: “what’s beneath that shiny exterior, that smooth ride”? Editor: Beautifully said. I started off with this image creating a claustrophobic, anxiety-inducing affect in me, and you’ve actually brought me full circle, realizing now that what felt at first like pressure might actually be momentum straining against confinement.